Method of and means for testing color television apparatus



July 6, 1954 N RYNN ErAL 2,683,187

METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR TESTING COLOR TELEVISION APPARATUS Filed Feb. 28, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet l K Wf//Vf oRNEY N. RYNN ET AL `I uly 6, 1954 METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR TESTING COLOR TELEVISION APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 28, 1951 FIG. s

PAUL- K. WEIMER ATTORNEY Patented July 6, 1954 METH'ODKQF ,MEANS FOR GQLQRl TELEVISION ARPARATUS Nathan 'and Paul K. vWei-mer, "Princeton,

T'N. ZI.,-fassignors-to Radio Uorporation of Amer-- ca, a-corporation of Delaware Application.EebnuarytS,.1951,\S.erialrN0..2l3;212

The -terminalffifteen years Io1 the Vterm :of-the -patent to 'be-granted has 'Sheen idisclaimed Cl. .H8-5.4.)

I `5 Claims. gl

.This .invention irelates 5to :a method rof 4and means for 'itestingathe foperaltion an'dfperiormance of color television apparatus.

.Inv order that `:television equipment .'ivill reproduce images their true colors it :is necessary that fthe v'color image `tube or tubes and-:their fassecia-leil icircuits :perform properly and faccurately and that ithey :be adjusted' or :optimum performance.

`:Iifis an object `:of this invention to @provide .a relatively isimpleimet'hod of and means for .the rapid,visuallandaccuratachecking of fcolorimage tubeszanditheiriassociatedcircuits.

Another: object ofthe invention is k'to provide annethodrof :and Vmeans `for presenting onthe face of an .image `Ftube, a pattern, .either in :monochrome aor vin'fa-:sequenceof oolors'which is indicative of the operation of the tube .and its associatedfcircuits.

iin :accordance with fthe..invention `a lvertical bar rtestfpa'ttern. .is `caused tofappear .on the face of the .image tube by applying the test signal only during ntherfly-baok .time Aof fthe *horizontal 1deflection. By `using .onlyithe ily-'back stime, it is possible-to VA'obtain -znag.nication vof `the sweep. Everyother scanning line isblanked out to eliminate thedotinterlace and to produce the uniform vertical bars.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will'lbecome-rapparent upon a consideration of the following -detailed Idescription 'taken in vconjunction with the accompanying drawings A-in which:

Fig. l1 represents in 'blockdiagra-m an embodiment of the invention as applied to a particular color televsion 1receivingsystem 2 represents #one pattern produced -by the use -of fthe invention;

fFig. 8 representsanother pattern Iproduced by the useo'f the invention;

`2Fig. =4 yrepresents a third pattern produced lby the-use 4of the invention; and,

Fig-.5 represen-ts a-modilcation of Lthe rinventiOn-asapplied 'to a `colortube of a `diierent type.

Fig-6 represents various Wave forms taken from poirits in the circuit Iof Fig. 1. some of lthe wave v`forms 'of rFig. #6 `enlarged to lmore vaccurately'sh/0W thephase relationship.

For -purposes of simplicity, the invention `will be ld-escribeda's lapplied to a color system of the dot-'multiplex type lusing asinglegun color image tube in -Which'lth'e rparticular-color phosphor energized is dependent -upona switching voltage applied to the color kinescope. Extrapolation vto the rtesting of 'other Acolor image reproducing systems such as multi-gunor multi-tube systems "or LFisk? represents f f 2 to direction fsensitiveeolor .tubes is `l;.ui-testraightforward and the application of the .invention sto such systems wll-be-olear :from Athe principles described below. lt will also-:he clearsthat the benets of the .invention :are yequally.applicable and nay readily be used with color television systems other .than dot-multiplex. Accordingly,

it is :to be understood sthat Athe invention ,fis :not intended to :be limited tto ,theparticnlar .system and apparatus chosenforgpurposesscf illustration. The particular apparatus fchosen for purposes of .illustration is =shown Figqi. Referizing fac that ligure, it will he -seen that 'innormal receptionv .of -color signals the .composite Ldoi; multiplex signal is :fedto a rsync zseparatcrzZ. There-fthe normal r'vertical :and A,.horizontal synchronizing pulses are :separated: out am'l applied to the #vertical scanning circuits f4' Eand horizontal Seann-lig circuits respectively, zthe horizontal-.xdeection voltage fbeingggraphically shownfin Fig. Color phasing signals in the form .of :a sine wave of 3:6 megacycle .'requeneyaame `also separated sont and fare Athen 4ted topa 'phase :adjuster-:8, :andern amplier I0, this voltage -waxrexformsrlindieatetl in Fig. v6B amplified relativeato 6A. Fromthe phrase fadjuster 8 the vv3;.6 mega-cycle signals are f ed to :a 4frequency tripler ft2 to :derivelza sine `Wavre of 10.28 megaoycle ifrequency.. 'The 111:8 4inegaeyn'le wave, shown .dn Eig. oCiampliedin relationeto 6A, is then ted `toen .amplifier :I 1i-.where itiisfcombined :with 'the Vvideo .signals -by ian :adder 516 :and are sfed rto :the control :grid .o'f the vgun ,.-ofithe 45 color 'tube .138. In :order to cause .activation of the :properiphosphorsof the screen'zllof the rcolor tube at fthe proper timesand'fin the -properfsequence, "the 13.6 fmegacycle wave Ifrom amplierf im is applied to the elements/of -thescreenlZ-'U ofthe tube. Phase adjuster 2! is included :in .the :sync circuit tolprovide additionalfcontrol.

The 10.8 megacycle wave is adjusted in .phase with phase-adjuster 118 and 21| Y'so ith-at the incoming video signals are sampled `at the 'dot repetition rate .of the incoming signals and the samples utilized Vto control the vintensity y'of 'the cathode ray beam. :By means 4of the '3:6 megacycle V`wave the beam tis 'caused -to strike "the proper phosphor element to 4Acause the screen ito -emit the color corresponding vto fthe 'color :sign-'al being transmitted. The color lig-ht produced "is dependent yupon the potentiallapplied'to electro'lie-2l).` Y In order to accomplish thefoli'jeets of-theiinven'- tion, a switch'2-2 `is provided to -removefthe video signals fed to the adder 16 Aand substitute Ltherefore signals `from'theapparatuswithin the lbox 2H. This 1aplciearanee `may be -ca 1led abargenerator,

cordance with the present invention, in one of,

its forms every other line in time sequence is blanked out. As a result, the crawling feature of the pattern is eliminated and the dots lie along vertical and horizontal lines. Now by applying magnification in a horizontal direction only the resulting pattern appears as a series of easily visible vertical lines across the image tube screen.

The above is accomplished in accordance with the invention by removing the usual video signal and unblanking the grid of the image reproducing tube only during horizontal ily-back 'time of alternate lines. That is the image reproducing tube is energized only during the yback time of alternate lines.

The horizontal synchronizing signals are supplied to what might be termed a flywheel circuit 26. This flywheel circuit preferably consists of an oscillator which is locked in frequency by the synchronizing signals to the horizontal scanning frequency. The output of the ywheel circuit is fed to a frequency divider 28 to produce a wave having a frequency of one-half the horizontal line frequency. The resulting wave is fed to a multivibrator type pulse positioner 30 which produces pulses having the desired position in time. The pulses are then passed through suitable circuitry 32 to give the pulses the desired shape and width, as shown in Fig. 6D. The pulses thus produced are fed to the image tube I8 after being combined with the 10.8 mc. voltage in the adder circuit I6 to give the resultant wave form shown in Fig. 6E. The adder circuit may, for example, take the form of a conventional mixer and be used to unblank the grid of the tube as explained above when a predetermined amplitude as indicated by line a: in Fig. 6E is reached.

Referring now to Fig. '7A the line 3l represents the voltage applied to the grid of the tube. All voltages having a voltage equal to or greater than the amplitude represented by the line y will cause the tube to uoresce at one color upon bombardment by the cathode ray beam. .Similarly, all voltages equal to or less than the voltage represented by the line .e will cause the tube to uoresce at a different color upon bombardment by the cathode ray beam. Voltages applied to the grid 2i! intermediate the lines y and e will cause the cathode ray beam to activate still another color phosphor. Thus, with continuous bombardment, and the application of a voltage such as represented by curve 31, all three colors would be activated.

In order to produce the desired bar pattern, the control grid is blocked and unblocked at intervals by the resultant voltage provided by amplifier I4, the bar generator 24, as shown in Fig. 6C and D, an amplied version of which is represented in Fig. 7B. Here, the line a: represents the voltage ator above which the control grid becomes unblanked and the line 38 represents theapplied voltage. A consideration of curves 7A and B will make it clear that the grid is unblanked for a short period during each color period.

All of these components and their circuitry are well known in the art and no detailed description thereof is believed necessary. Details regarding these components may be found in textbooks on 4 electronics such as Radio Engineers Handbook by Terman or recent publications on dot multiplex color television such as RCA Bulletins on Color Television and U. H. Octoberl949 to July 1950 published by Radio Corporation of America. The synchronizing signals could be used to synchronize a half frequency oscillator directly and the frequency divider network be eliminated. It is also possible to combine the pulse positioner and the pulse Shaper.

When using no color switching but using sampling as outlined above, the reproduced pattern would appear as illustrated in Figure 2 as a series of straight vertical lines of a single color with blank spaces between each color bar. Measurement of the width of the lines, their linearity, color purity, uniformity and equality of spacing, and the like will give information concerning the sampling apparatus and the operation of the sampling circuits. A series of such tests can be easily made using each color phosphor to give a complete picture of the operation of the associated circuitry.

By turning up the gain of amplifier I0 color switching may be done. By turning down the gain of amplifier I4 sampling may be eliminated. By utilizing sine wave color switching, without sampling the pattern appears as shown in Figure 3. In Figure 3 sequentially colored solid Vertical bars will appear with no blank or black spaces between them. This pattern yields information about the functioning of the switching circuit, the uniformity and regularity with which the phosphors were laid down in their patterns in the image reproducing tube, and on the regularity of mechanical construction of the image tube.

With both sampling and color switching, vertical colored lines, red, green, blue in sequence will appear separated by black spaces. Since the color sequence is determined by the sampler phase shifter, a visual picture of its operation is thus obtained. Inspection of the chromaticity indicates the adequacy of the switching and sampling circuits and of the phosphors. t

Although the above indications were arrived at utilizing horizontal magnification alone vertical magnification may also be employed. The pattern would then appear as a dot pattern laid out in grille.

The application of this testing arrangement to color receiving tubes of the type in which the color generated is dependent upon the approach angle of the cathode ray beam is shown in Figure 5.

Typical tubes of this sort are shown and described in the paper entitled General Description of Receivers for the RCA Color Television System Which Employ the RCA Direct-View Tri- Color Kinescopes published in April 1950 by the Radio Corporation of America. The color tube 34 there illustrated is of the three beam type although a single beam whose angle of approach is cyclically changed could be used in place of the three beam type. The operating circuits therefor are of the usual type and therefore have not been illustrated. VDetail of associated circuitry is illus-I trated in the paper referred to immediately above. The bar generator 24 of the invention is keyed by the sync signals and the output thereof applied to the grid of the color tube as in the modification shown in Figure 1. The receiver sampler 36 keys the cathodes of the color tube in desired sequence.

The operation of this arrangement is essentially the same as that for the arrangement shown in Figure 1 with the exception of the fact that the term color switching no longer properly applies since the problem here is to get the proper sampling width only. It is also possible to obtain information indicating the uniformity of the registration and convergence of the three guns by using the procedures described above.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for testing television equipment in a system of the type wherein there is employed a scanning cathode ray beam image reproducing device having a scanning cathode ray beam control electrode and a scanning sequence involving a normally active scanning beam time occupied by a scanning line and a normally inactive scanning beam flyback time, means for inactivating said scanning beam during said normally active scanning beam time occupied by a scanning line and activating said scanning beam during said normally inactive scanning beam iiyback time, a bar pattern generator having a signal output circuit and means connecting said bar pattern generator signal output circuit to said scanning cathode ray beam control electrode.

2. Apparatus for testing television equipment in a system of the type wherein there is employed a scanning cathode ray beam image reproducing device having a scanning cathode ray beam control electrode and a scanning sequence involving a normally active scanning beam time occupied by a scanning line and a normally inactive scanning beam flyback time, means for inactivating said scanning beam during said normally active scanning beam time occupied by a scanning line and activating said scanning beam only during the time interval occupied by alternate flyback line positions, a bar pattern generator having a signal output circuit and means connecting said bar pattern generator signal output circuit to said scanning cathode ray beam control electrode.

3. Apparatus for testing color television equipment in a system of the type employing color detection means and wherein there is employed a scanning cathode ray beam image reproducing device having color control means, a scanning cathode ray beam control electrode and wherein said image reproducing device employs a scanning sequence involving a normally active scanning beam time occupied by a scanning line and a normally inactive scanning beam flyback time, means for inactivating said scanning beam during said normally active scanning beam time occupied by a scanning line and activating said scanning beam only during the time interval occupied by alternate flyback line positions, a bar pattern generator having a signal output circuit and means connecting said bar pattern generator signal output circuit to said scanning cathode ray beam control electrode.

4. The invention as set forth in claim 3 and wherein there is provided means for inactivating said color detection means during test.

5. The invention as set forth in claim 3 and wherein there is provided means for inactivating said color control means during test.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,292,045 Burnett Aug. 4, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 520,349 Great Britain Apr. 22, 1940 OTHER REFERENCES Duke, A Method and Equipment for Checking Television Scanning Linearity, RCA Review, vol. VI, #2, October 1941. 

